Celtic Deny Hearts at the Death

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Celtic footballers clapping
Credit Mikolaj Barbanell via Shutterstock

Football can be unimaginably cruel, and while it remains “just a game”, it still has the capacity to shape emotions like little else. The Scottish title race had been a one-sided procession for much of the past 14 years up until the 2025/26 campaign. In that time, Celtic had won the title 13 times, with Rangers managing a sole success in 2020/21.

More broadly, the Glaswegian giants had won 55 titles apiece, with Hearts, Hibs and Aberdeen all joint third with four Scottish championship victories. And so when Hearts looked like throwing a spanner in the works in the season just finished, neutrals everywhere rejoiced.

Scottish football won new fans, with supporters all over the world taking more of an interest now that there actually looked like being an actual title race. And not just a competitive contest, but one where there looked like a real chance that David would beat Goliath. But then, football can be unimaginably cruel, can’t it?

Hearts Seconds from Glory

Hearts have a wage bill around 20% of Celtic’s and, financially speaking, they operate in different leagues. Despite that, shrewd decisions by their owners and board, which now include Brighton owner Tony Bloom, and brilliant management from the man they chose, Derek McInnes, have seen them compete with Rangers and Celtic this term.

In truth, for almost the entire campaign, they did far more than compete. Hearts beat Rangers and Celtic five times over the course of the season. Only Sir Alex Ferguson’s brilliant Aberdeen side – the last non-Old Firm club to lift the Scottish title (back in 1985) – has ever matched that. They beat Celtic home and away in their first two meetings and then drew at home. They did even better against Rangers, taking nine points from their four meetings.

As fate would have it, their fourth meeting with Celtic would take place on the final day of the season. Hearts came into the game sitting top of the table and knew that a draw would be enough to see them lift their first title since 1960. But it was not to be.

Celtic Leave It Late


Fans of Scottish football had been eyeing up this fixture for a while as a potential title decider. Many may have thought that Hearts would have fallen away sooner, but they ground out results even when not at their best.

There was controversy aplenty before we reached the final game of the season, too, without which the title may already have been out of Celtic’s reach. Hearts fans will question the penalty they didn’t get against Motherwell in a 1-1 draw on the 9th of May. The Key Match Incident panel of the SFA subsequently ruled they should have been awarded a spot-kick.

That decision was all the more galling in the light of the penalty Celtic were given against the same opponents just four days later. The hugely controversial penalty, after VAR review, was given to the Bhoys in the 99th minute and allowed them to snatch a 3-2 win at the death. Two huge decisions that effectively gave Celtic four points and meant that a home win on the final day of the campaign would give them the title.

That chance was perhaps more than Martin O’Neill’s men deserved. And, roared on by a pumped-up home crowd, they were clear favourites to seal the three points and thus the title. They came into the game on 79 points, one behind their guests, so only a win would suffice.

However, despite the atmosphere inside Celtic Park, the home team were poor. They managed just three shots in the first half as Hearts defended well and threatened on the break. The visitors took the lead from a corner after 43 minutes, and their tiny section of the crowd, given a pathetic ticket allocation, erupted.

The joy was short-lived, though, as Celtic equalised from a penalty in first-half stoppage time. It was a fair decision, given for handball, though unfortunate for the defender. In the second period, the hosts improved a little but didn’t test Alexander Schwolow in the Jambos’ goal all that much.

They kept knocking and knocking, but as time slipped away, it looked like the underdogs would hold on, especially after Celtic hit the post. However, the Bhoys got the breakthrough in the 87th minute, although the goal was initially ruled out for offside. VAR, correctly, overturned the decision, and Daizen Maeda’s strike stood.

With the title now staying in Glasgow, Hearts tried to press for an equaliser that would rebuild their shattered dream in an instant. They looked tired and had little to offer, though, even if eight minutes of added time gave them a chance. With time almost up, McInnes’ men had a free kick and sent the goalie up. Unfortunately for them, Celtic cleared and sub Callum Osmand had the simple task of racing clear and scoring into an empty net.

The 3-1 scoreline was harsh, as was the fact that Hearts had led the way for 250 days before falling at the final hurdle. It proved a cruel, cruel end to a magnificent season for the Edinburgh side.